World War II bomb explodes at Japanese airport, causing its closure
A U.S. bomb probably dropped during World War II exploded Wednesday near the runway of Miyazaki Airport (southern Japan) and caused the closure of the airfield for the entire day, with no injuries reported.
The incident took place at around 08:10 local time, when local firefighters were alerted to an explosion heard in the vicinity of the airfield. Police requested airport staff to evacuate the area.
Local authorities and the airport operating company proceeded to inspect the airfield and found a hole about 7 meters in diameter and one meter deep in the taxiway leading to the runway.
A video captured by security cameras shows the moment when the explosion occurred.
The incident caused the closure of the runway and the cancellation of a total of 66 flights scheduled for the day, according to the airport operator, which expects to resume normal air connections as of Thursday.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces (Army) sent an explosives detection and deactivation unit to the airport to investigate the incident, and together with other competent authorities, have determined that the explosion was caused by “an unexploded bomb of U.S. manufacture,” said Yoshimasa Hayashi, a spokesman for the Executive, at a press conference.
Although the spokesman gave no further details, Japanese media reports suggest that it is almost certainly a device that had remained unexploded since it was launched almost 80 years ago by U.S. forces, similar to other projectiles found over the years in the area of this airport.
Two 50-kg and 250-kg bombs believed to have been dropped by the U.S. Army during World War II were found on one of its taxiways in 2011, while another explosive was found in 2009 during construction work near the airport, which was built on a former Imperial Japanese Navy airfield.
The Japanese spokesman explained that the incident remains under investigation to try to determine how the bomb blast was triggered, and stated that “there is no risk of another similar explosion occurring” in the area.
With information from EFE
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